Meenakshi Gupta and Vikas Sharma
With the liberalization of economy thereby introduction of several globalization and trade liberalization measures and entry of the corporate sector have induced competition in food markets. These have also started undergoing transformation from those based entirely upon the consumption of low-value basic essentials to the emergence of new market segments demonstrating orientation to the consumption of a larger-variety of value-added and processed foods. In the dairy sub-sector this has fostered branding, introduced product diversification, product positioning and product differentiation as well as price discounting for the selective few product lines. Such market dynamics that have emanated from integrated supply chain management practices of the corporate groups/MNCs have also forced producers and marketers in the unorganized segment of the industry to reassess their position and adopt ‘new’ strategies. This study focuses upon the unorganized segment of dairy sub sector that comprises of various types of independently operated firms that supply milk and milk products primarily to urban consumers. Its objectives are to examine how under the influence of ongoing environmental and market dynamics firms align with its immediate upstream and downstream chain partners and coordinate the supply chain from farm to fork for sourcing milk and deliver dairy products, cope up with the seasonal character of industry to sustain business and its profitability.